Sparton LPC-815 and LPC-835 PCs are ready to take the heat

Most computers live fairly easy lives. Sure, some of them are punished by overclocking or endure crowded conditions in data centers, but those machines are often cooled by custom water loops or have high-CFM fans constantly blowing fresh air through them. Sparton's Stealth-series PCs are designed to operate for long periods in extreme conditions that most computers and human beings would rather avoid entirely. The LPC-815 and LPC-835 are specced to function in ambient temperatures from -13° F (-25° C) all the way up to 158° F (70° C). They do their work without the benefit of fans or any other moving parts, as well.

The LPC-815 is powered by an Intel Bay Trail Celeron J1900 quad-core SoC that runs at up to 2.42 GHz accompanied by 4 GB of non-upgradeable DDR3L memory. What the machine lacks in processing firepower it makes up somewhat in connectivity, with a pair of Intel-powered Gigabit Ethernet ports, a smattering of USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, DisplayPort and HDMI outputs, two serial ports, and four digital I/O pins for controlling things like external relays. The machine even has an onboard watchdog timer that can issue a system reset automatically should it detect a hang.

The LPC-835 is a bit bigger and packs considerably more grunt in the form of a standard Intel Core i5-5350U or an optional Core i7-5650U CPU. The stock model contains 4 GB of DDR3L memory, and there's an available 8 GB option at additional cost. The machine can drive up to three monitors with its DVI-D port and DisplayPort daisy-chaining. Two Gigabit Ethernet ports come as standard equipment, and there's an option to add four more ports.

Both machines come with solid state drives from 128 GB up to 1 TB. Buyers can add wireless connectivity in the form of two external-facing SIM card slots and an optional Intel 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth card that goes into one of the machine's two mini-PCIe slots. Both machines can be powered by PSUs providing anywhere from 9V to 48V DC for enhanced compatibility with existing equipment.

The unique capabilities of these PCs do not come cheap. The LPC-815 rings in at $1500 and the more capable LPC-835 starts at $2400. Sparton says both machines are compatible with Windows 7, 8.1, and 10, as well as Ubuntu Linux.